“North Nights”

The 23-year-old Northampton, England rapper Slowthai comes up often in conversations about grime’s next stars. Despite his age, he has a special way of bridging the gap between grime’s past and future, while pulling in influences from across the pond. On hard-nosed tracks like “T N Biscuits,” the rapper found a middle ground between the rough-hewn aesthetic of early U.K. pirate radio and the abrasive sound of SoundCloud rap. His latest single, “North Nights,” reaches even further back, to the heyday of New York rap. The instrumental recalls RZA’s early work for Wu-Tang: a crackling, minor-key piano loop and a rubbery guitar line, draped over a dry boom-bap beat.

Showing off his versatility, Slowthai uses this classic sound as a springboard for a variety of flows. He moves fluidly between double-time and half-speed rhymes, approaching the beat from all sides. He also modulates his voice in new ways, pushing it until it squeaks like sneakers on a basketball court, in a manner that recalls grime elder statesman Dizzee Rascal. Despite his growing profile, Slowthai’s worldview remains fixed on what’s in front of him: call outs to his neighborhood, tough talk for rivals, self-mythologizing (“When it snows, I’m a ghost ‘cause I’m dressed in white”). With “North Nights,” Slowthai continues to demonstrate his growth as a rapper, while remaining firmly rooted in hip-hop history.